Hi all, i'm new here. I've been smoke free for 3 days now; I was smoking 10-15 cigs a day, 2 years ago (the first time I quit) I was smoking a pack a day.. I'm quitting cold turkey because I dont believe in patches or pills. What I'm getting at is, the addiction for me is not hard to get past. I can ignore cravings easily by working out or running.
What is hard for me though is that I have memories. Great memories of smoking, growing up and experiencing all these great times. Every great memory I have has a cig involved. This is the hard thing to get past, I don't want to lose this aspect of myself. I'm afraid I won't be myself anymore; and I liked who I was, I just didnt like smoking, it made me feel horrible.

I want to quit for good, I want to be able to enjoy a cigar later in life without having the craving to inhale it.. Most of all I want my health..
I guess my question is; Does this mental craving ever go away?? This feeling that I want one because my whole life has involved them, and I don't want to lose that because that time has been great.

Good job on quitting. 5 days here! Look at the other topics here if you need a support forum. Ginger and I would be glad to help. To answer your question- I don't know. But I sure hope so. It is a VERY strong addiction. The smoking didn't make those times you remember great, it was just there for the ride. You can do it. Keep plugging away.....
Day 5 is no easier than days 1-4 just FYI.

I heard from someone (could be rubbish tho) that they roll the tobacco in sugar ..... so when you quit, is the reason you crave sweet things ...
did anyone else hear this, or has someone taken me for a ride ??

To answer your question. Yes the mental cravings do go away, but for those mental cravings to go away, you have to change how you see smoking.

Right now, you're talking about all the great memories you had smoking and you're afraid of losing that. That's understandable when we first quit, but it based off of lies that this addiction created.

When you smoked. Every moment that you had that felt wonderful. Every happy moment that you had where life just felt great. Every single moment that you had where you felt joy in your life. Every single one of those moments happened IN SPITE of smoking and NOT because of it.

Not one of those cigarettes made a happy moment in your life any better. In fact the cigarette was the burden to your joyous occasions, because no matter how you felt, you always had to feed the beast. You always had to put a stop to the anxiety that withdrawal was causing you.

There is no real pleasure in smoking. It is a relief that creates the illusion that smoking is pleasurable.

The cycle of addiction is only relieving an anxiety that the previous cigarette created. An anxiety that should have never been there.

Do you think that if you were a never smoker that those joyous times would have been less joyous? No, they wouldn't have.

Really ask yourself. How does a cigarette make an event better? What did smoking do that made any of those moments seem so much better to you? All that smoking did was put a stop to withdrawal and anxiety so that you could get on with enjoying your joyous moments.

In your last days of smoking, ask yourself how you really felt smoking those cigarettes. Smokers will often have a very hard time answering this question, because the more a smoker smokes. The more nothing happens. All they feel is a relief. A releif from what though? From life? From stress? Or simply from withdrawal?

Do you think never smokers are missing out on a great stress relieving tool such as the cigarette? They aren't. Stress causes smokers to lose nicotine at an accelerated rate. The smoker smokes a cigarette and only relieves withdrawal. If a never smoker smoked because they were stressed, they would only feel ill. It would do nothing for their stress, because a cigarette cannot relieve stress. In reality, smoking causes stress.

As far as cigars. Forget about it. You are addicted to nicotine, not cigarettes. Cigars have nicotine in them and even if you don't inhale them, you will absorb nicotine through your mucus membrane. There are no loopholes in the law of addiction.

Smoking doesn't do anything for you. It only does TO YOU. It takes away your choices. It takes away your freedom. It takes away your money. It takes away your health and if you continue, it may very well take away our life.

I know quitting can be scary. It is like getting out of a horrible relationship. Even though we know that it is best to leave this relationship. When we do, we have doubts about leaving it for good. We wonder if we can live life without our partner that has" been there for us" for so long. The truth is we can!! It is wonderful. That relationship was one sided. Smoking did nothing but take away from you and gave you nothing in return!

You are NOT depriving yourself of smoking. You are freeing yourself from it!!
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Ginger,

as far as the sweet tooth. I have never heard that about cigarettes. Doesn't mean it's not true.

I do know though that one of the main reasons why is that when we smoked. Nicotine caused a chemical interaction that caused us to release our own stored fats and cholesterols. This was due to smoking putting a strain our bodies and the body looking for the extra energy to combat this.

When we first quit smoking. The body doesn't naturally release it's own stored fats. This causes the blood sugar level to plummet, which can create the sweet tooth. This is only temporary and the body will re adjust to normal function. To combat this, drink lots of fruit juice if possible.

Thank you for the replies, it helps greatly. I almost broke down today but I held back! It feels like i'm actually fighting for something, I can't wait to get back into the shape that I once was. I'm so glad I found this place.

Get smoke free with "smoke away" it's a nicotine detox system that really works. I smoked for over twenty years and tried quitting many time that lasted no more than six months. I am glad to say that after using Smoke Away I was smoke free within 21 days,,, It's been over five years since then and I don't have any craving whatsoever. It cost approx $105.00. But their website is running a special now for only $60.00.

Thanks for your input Eric; you're exactly right. I had hypnosis two weeks ago and haven't smoked since with no desire to which isn't to say that I haven't thought about, just thought better of it when the desire has hit. My mindset hasn't been totally right though I think a lot of it is because of the hypnosis telling me that I'm a non-smoker (therefore no big deal that I haven't had a cigarette). Your contribution though has helped with a deeper perspective - I must remember it was never a friend!

Apparently, cigarettes release endorphins which is why smokers who run or exercise rarely get a "runner's high"; glucose will also release endorphins which may create a sugar craving?

I have been smoke free for 3 years now. I quit when I had a nightmare that I held a ciggarette up to my little boys head and burnt him. My little boy has asthma and I think that the reason I drempt that was because, I knew that my smoking was hurting him and he was only a year old at the time. Occasionally when I have a drink or go somewhere where there are alot of people smoking I think about it but then, I remember all the health benefitts and benefitts to my family that I got from quitting and I don't want it anymore. Also, it helps when you haven't smoked in awhile and you smell the smoke on someones clothes and breath and then you start saying wow, I really used to smell like that?!?!?!?

Going cold turkey is quite hard because you need to go through the psychological addiction withdrawels as well as the chemical addiction withdrawels thats why the patches are good as they take care of the chemical addiction and gradually ween you off and that way you just need to deal with the psychological addiction.. (which is hard enough as it is) I found exercising like a maniac lol really helped.

I've heard that the mental craving doesn't necessarily go away, but it gets less and less and easier and easier to not crave one. I knew this lady that smoked for years and years and she said that even to this day, she misses a cigarette after dinner, in the morning, etc. But even though she misses it, the feeling isn't strong enough to actually go smoke one.

I've heard that the mental craving doesn't necessarily go away, but it gets less and less and easier and easier to not crave one. I knew this lady that smoked for years and years and she said that even to this day, she misses a cigarette after dinner, in the morning, etc. But even though she misses it, the feeling isn't strong enough to actually go smoke one.

No, I personally don't agree with that. The only time I ever missed a ciggarette was when I had a drink and even that faded with a little time.
Harmony1xo

Hi, February will be 3 years since I quit. I also quit cold turkey. Honestly it didn't bother me at first, but the last few months I have really been wanting one. Sometimes I want to smoke just one to get it out of my system, but I'm afraid I will start again. My sister can smoke one and not touch another again for years. I'm hoping I will get past this craving. Good luck to you and congrats

Becca, if you smoke that one cigarette, you will wind up a smoker again. It might not happen right away, but you will become a smoker again. Do not put another cigarette in your mouth. It is your only guaranteed way of remaining a non-smoker.

I've given up for two weeks now, and finding it really really hard, would it be so bad to be a casual smoker just to put a limit on say have 2 at the weekend when you drink? I am finding the mental side really tough, all my friends smoke so I can't even be around them. When I have a drink all I can think of is make a cigarette, make a cigarette it is maddening. I don't know if I can bear to live my life feeling like I am missing something.

Sure I should never have started smoking 15yrs ago, but I did and now have to live with the consequences. Would it not be better to live a shorter happier life without mental cravings than a longer one with? I used to smoke a lot at the weekend, basically chain smoke roll ups and don't ever want to go back to that, but I have never smoked during the day so then I am fine, so surely if I just limited myself to one or two at the weekend it would be ok? I can also relate to the guy who was talking about enjoyable smoking memories, it's not just the smoking but the act of rolling a cigarette, the social crutch, the meeting outside with other smokers and actually having a conversation with a stranger... Once that has been experienced as enjoyable for years it is impossible then to tell yourself it wasn't, it was just the nicotine... I am aware that I am sounding like the classic nicotine withdrawal addict, but it honestly scares me that even though my Dad gave up 5 years ago he still craves cigarettes when he drinks... I'm going to aim for a month just to prove something to myself but deep down I think I am a lost cause...

i started smoking at 12 on and off until I was 20 then started back up at 22. I was smoking 2 1/2 pks a day in my early to mid thirties. Quit for 9 mos and decided to have one. Well that did it! I was back to smoking. I then smoked 1 1/2 packs /day until I turned forty then I quit cold turkey 11-2-09. It hasn't been that hard. I know that I am a nicotine addict and I cannot have just one. You are not a lost cause. Don't give up:)

Thanks for that, I just know I am weak when I have a drink, otherwise I think I could handle it. It's not that I'm an alcoholic or anything I just like to go out at the weekend... I've just hit 30 and I'd always said to myself I'd give up completely at 30, and I feel good that I have but sometimes I just find it very hard to remember why I have at the weekend... I'm sure its the nicotine/habit saying live for the moment etc. last night was hell second weekend of not going out, I just felt like a saddo sitting at home to avoid meeting people with cigarettes... will it get better and how soon before I can go out again?

I don't know about you but many of my friends smoke and I was around them the first day w/o it bothering me. Just tell yourself I won't smoke today butI will tomorrow then do it all over again....I won't smoke today but... Go hour by hour or minute by minute if you have to. That's not how I quit smoking this time but that's how I quit once before. It's also how I quit drinking-I'm a recovery alcoholic for several yrs. Just take it a day at a time. It does get better.

End of 2nd week for me. First week wasn't that bad because I was sick and in bed. This second week is really tough. I don't feel like doing anything....I used to smoke before and after a project. Therefore, I need to focus on something else.
but the feeling and idea are not passing.